Geneology question Wagner?

Question:Alright, I was told many times that we were descended from Richard Wagner.. and after watching an old interview with his last grand child (as an adult obviously) I don't doubt it.. The guy was IDENTICAL to my Grandfather.. (although now that my grandfather IS that old it is even more Identical).. but, I'm not finding any trace in the legitimate lines.. It doesn't help that my grandfather never asked his father about any of the family history. Is there any way to trace illegitimate children... I know there were plenty of rumors, but have found no actual names. The common "family" names seem to be Truman and Kelsey.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Alright, I was told many times that we were descended from Richard Wagner.. and after watching an old interview with his last grand child (as an adult obviously) I don't doubt it.. The guy was IDENTICAL to my Grandfather.. (although now that my grandfather IS that old it is even more Identical).. but, I'm not finding any trace in the legitimate lines.. It doesn't help that my grandfather never asked his father about any of the family history. Is there any way to trace illegitimate children... I know there were plenty of rumors, but have found no actual names. The common "family" names seem to be Truman and Kelsey.

http://users.utu.fi/hansalmi/wagner.html
Is this the Wagner you are asking about? There seems to be some in depth info about him, and maybe the website owner knows more.
Illegitimate lines are tricky as heck. SOMETIMES, you can pick up from contemporary gossip, or affairs are well known and documented. Other times, it is kept hidden. If you trace your direct line, and do good documentation, it is not imposssible to compare names/dates/places and see if there is a chance that the evidence supports it.
Or, your info might rule it out totally. No harm to try.

Start with your grandfather and work backwards. Record as much as he knows about his cousins, aunts, and uncles. You may find a blank spot in the father column, or you might find that an ancestor was a cousin to Wagner.

A lot of trees that are published focus (understandably) on closer relatives to that person. So perhaps you are a bit further out in a line that didn't respond to a letter from a distant cousin, or maybe you aren't related at all, but there still might be a story in that.